(Lanka-e-News - 16.June.2017, 10.00PM) Chief minister of North Wigneswaran who sought to conduct his affairs like a judge has driven himself into a grave predicament .

The chief minister appointed a committee comprised of three intellectuals in September last year to probe into the alleged corruption and frauds in Northern provincial council (PC ).That committee which received the approval of the PC was constituted of two retired judges and a retired district secretary.

Firstly the accusations were mounted by 16 Northern PC members against four ministers :There were ten charges against Northern PC agriculture minister Ayingaranesan ; 9 charges against education minister T.Gurukularaja ; 5 charges against health minister P. Sathyalingam ; and 4 charges against Fisheries and transport minister Daneeswaran . That is , in all 29 charges were leveled.

The committee in its report following the investigation stated as the charges against agriculture minister and education minister have been proved with evidence , they should be dismissed and legal action shall be taken , whereas with regard to health minister and minister of fisheries and transport , the charges could not be proved because the prosecution witnesses did not come forward to testify . This report was handed over to the chief minister.

Accordingly ,the chief minister announcing his decision on the 14 th said, the two ministers Ayingaranesan and Thambiraja Gurukularaja against whom the charges have been proved shall resign . As regards the other two ministers against whom the charges could not be proved , and as investigations are to be continued , a holiday of one month shall be granted . The chief minister further said , the duties of these two ministers shall be suspended for a month , and during that period he would take charge of those ministerial duties.

The education minister Gurukularaja sent his resignation letter on the 9 th even before it was debated ,to TNA Jaffna district M.P. Mavai Senathiraja .

The two ministers who were notified to resign , had forwarded their letters with their defense to the chief minister . However , the chief minister during the PC sessions did not reveal anything about the decision to be taken in respect of those appeals.

The Northern PC had by that time spent Rs. 2.6 million towards the investigations to be conducted against the ministers. In any event even as the chief minister announced his decision a commotion broke out against the chief minister. A no confidence motion against Wigneswaran signed by 16 members of the TNA was handed over to the Northern province governor Reginald Cooray on the 1 4th night itself.

On the 15 th afternoon , another motion expressing confidence in the chief minister was handed over to the governor Reginald Cooray .

TNA M.P. K . Sivajilingam a relative of Prabhakaran and his group in their motion stated that the no confidence motion shall be withdrawn .

A protest was staged against the chef minister over his decision to dismiss the ministers of the northern PC while another protest too was staged on the same day (15) demanding the withdrawal of the no confidence motion against the chief minister in front of the office of the Northern PC.

The governor on the other hand instructed the chief minister to prove that he wields the power of the majority in the council .

In the event the chief minister is defeated on the no confidence motion , the group that tabled the no confidence motion has decided to appoint C.V.K. Sivagnanam as the new chief minister.

Sivagnanam is currently the chairman of the Northern PC ,and he is a Leftist politician . He won the Northern PC elections under the TNA and was a pioneer working to uplift the Northern cooperative movement .

The group which advanced the no confidence motion is absolutely confident that the chief minister will be defeated on the motion , and that already 21 members have signed it.

The number of members of the Northern PC is 38 . Of them 30 members represent the TNA, and 17 of its members have signed the no confidence motion against the chief minister . Their allegation is the chief minister is trying to administer the PC like a judge..

At the same time the support of the TNA leader cum opposition leader M.A. Sumenthiran and Mavai Senadhiraja too are not for Wigneswaran .

It is significant to note Wigneswaran who became the chief minister of the first provincial council of the north after the conclusion of a 30 years old ethnic war was never a politician , and he is a retired judge of the supreme court . He is the brother in law of wizened old Vasudeva Nanayakkara , a politician considered by all as have outlived his utility on earth and suffering from senile decay.

Though he was demanding police and land powers for the PC , he never attempted to use his powers duly and adequately . He did not utilize the funds allocated by the Central government for projects , and worked In a manner conducive to the Central government to call back the funds. Because he did not abide by the decisions of the TNA that steered him to victory , he deprived himself of its support too.

(Source from reports by Dinasena Rathugamage and Siraj Haseem )Translated by Jeff